Tuesday, March 21, 2017

March 21st, 2017. Bandai Namco of Europe tweeted this morning announcing that Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth Hacker's Memory will be coming to Europe in early 2018. The European version of the game will not be dubbed, featuring Japanese voices with English subtitles; however, it will also feature German subtitles. The game will be coming to the PlayStation Vita digitally, and both physical and digital versions will be put out for the PlayStation 4.

While the lack of an English dub will doubtless disappointment some fans, the expansion into other European languages for subtitling is a welcome addition after Sleuth. More concerning is that while Hacker's Memory is confirmed to contain Cyber Sleuth in Japan, Bandai EU stated has stated that the European release only includes the new game. One of the selling points of the Hacker's Memory package in Japanese waters is being able to play through the original game with the 73 additional Digimon that were not available in the 2015 release.

More positively, Bandai has stated that this is "the final final FINAL confirmation" of a Vita release, in reference to last year's -next 0rder- debacle in which the company mistakenly told the press that Digimon World -next 0rder-'s international release would be physical and digital on both PlayStation 4 with no Vita release, then rescinded their statement to say the game would also have a digital release on Vita, and then rescinded their additional statement to announce that the game would be a PS4 exclusive.
The datasheet for the European announcement confirms that Cyber Sleuth's multiplayer elements will return in Hacker's Memory. The latest batch of screenshots put out by Bandai show off several new locations, including what appears to be an arena for underground hacker battles. (Pictured above.)

Hacker's Memory will come to the PlayStation 4 and Vita in Japan in 2017, and in Europe in early 2018. No North American release has been confirmed at this time, though recent American and European Digimon releases have been within a week of one another.

Monday, March 20, 2017

March 21st, 2017. Japanese gaming news outlet Gamer published three screenshots and the logo from Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth Hacker's Memory today, drawing on the same press kit used in V Jump magazine earlier this week. These give us a clear view of the game's Digifarm, as well as of a confrontation with Dagomon in Odaiba.

"The protagonist of this work is not a hero chosen to save the world."
「本作主人公は、世界を救うために選ばれた英湯（ヒーロー）ではありません。」

March 21st, 2017. Today Bandai Namco Entertainment opened the official Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth Hacker'sMemory website, confirming several facts recently detailed in early leaks of V Jump magazine. Hacker's Memory will debut in Japan on the Playstation Vita and PlayStation 4 in 2017, with character designs once more being handled by Yasuda Suzuhito of Sleuth and Re:Digitize fame, while music will be done by Takada Masafumi. The game is being developed by Media.Vision, the same company which developed Cyber Sleuth. (The most recent Digimon titles, -next 0rder-and Cyber Arena, were made by Bandai in-house.) The site's tagline is "We were at the boundary between the real and the digital." (現実と電脳の境界に、僕らはいた。Riaru to dejitaru no kyoukai ni, bokura wa ita.)

Currently only the introduction page is functional. According to it, Hacker's Memory shares its setting and world with Cyber Sleuth, and will introduce 73 new Digimon to Sleuth's roster, for a grand total of 320. And since Hacker's Memory also contains the original game packed in free-of-charge, players will also be able to use the new Digimon from Memory in Cyber Sleuth, giving even veterans reason to play through it again.

The site promises to deliver a story on the underside of Sleuth:

In this work, another story will be told from the flipside of the events in Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth, following a new protagonist.

In a near-future Tokyo where the boundaries between the real and the digital are breaking down, the player becomes a next-generation hacker using the AI-bearing computer virus born of cyberspace "Digimon," and solves the case stirred up by antagonistic hackers.

The protagonist of this work is not a hero chosen to save the world.

In face of a global crisis, where the common sense and values held up to now have changed dramatically, he struggles desperately to protect his friends, family, and most important places.

From here a cyberpunk story with strong science fiction elements begins!

Although Sleuth is packed into Hacker's Memory, playing it is optional; the player can play Memory by itself without going through the previous game first.

In addition to 60 returning locations from Sleuth, Memory also features 30 new maps, for an approximate total of 90 visitable locations. While Sleuth spanned 20 chapters, Hacker's Memory will be concluded in just 18; it has 70 new subquests (equal to the number found in Sleuth) 30 key quests, and 40 free quests. (Compared to 32 key and 39 free quests, including DLC, for Sleuth.)

Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth Hacker's Memory will launch in Japan in 2017. Although no western release date has yet been announced, Bandai's European branch trademarked Hacker's Memory on the 19th.